Underground-trolley system.



A. KAUTZKY. UNDERGROUND TROLLEY SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15.1911.

Patented July 30, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I Invrifiore Jfauizkyf A. 'KAUT Z'KY. UNDERGROUND TBOLLEY, sYsTEM.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 15. 191i.

Patented' July 30, 1912.-

SHEET 2[ witnassw.

ADOLPH mw'rzki, or LOS ANGELES, CALiFORNIA.

UmlERGR-OUND-TRQLLEY SYSTEM.

- Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed May 15, 1911.

Patented July 30, 1912. Serial No. 627,221.

To all whom it may concern. u

Be' it known that I, ADoLPH KAU'rzKi', a

citizen of the United States, residing at Los- Angeles, in the county of Los Angees and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Underground- Trolley Systems, of which the following is a specification.

Thisv invent-ion relates to improvements in underground trolleysystems, and it is particularly adapted for street car systems where it is undesirable to use overhead and ex osed conductors. j

t is an object of the present inventior to provide a street car system with conductors arranged below the surface of the street or roadway and in such position that they can be readily reached by a trolley extending downwardly from the car or cars, the-conduct/01's being so disposed that water cannot collect about the same so as to make a short circuit at any point.

:It is a further object of the invention to arrange a third rail system for cars in which the conductor may be arranged. so'

that all drainage will be carriedbelow the same and out of touch therewith, suitable collecting drains being arranged beneath the roadbed.

' It is a further object of the invention to provide anunderground trolley system in which a conductor is provided, which atfords a practically continuous surface to the trolleys of the cars running over the said system.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part oft-his specification, Figure l is a side elevation of a motor car, the roadbed beneath the same being shown in longitudinal vertical section for illustrating the mounting of the conductor rail and the drain below the same, the section through the roadbed and drain being taken upon the line 1-1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken through one of the roadbeds and the collecting drain beneath the same. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view showing a preferred form of a trolley employed in connection withthe underground system. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through 'a' road-bed constructed in accordance with the present invention,

and the drain beneath the same, the-said arranged below the surface of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of the roadbed and track constructed in accordance with the present invention, a portion of the roadbed being broken. away to show the'conductors between the rails, and the arrangement thereof at the switch.

The details of the invention will now be more particularly described, reference being had to the drawing in which- 5 indicates the main rails ,of a railway system, which are placed parallel in the usual way and are -secured to any suitable cross ties as 6. -These ties are preferably the street or roadway so that thesaid surface may be brought flush with the tops of the rails as shown in Fig. 2. or may not be provided with longitudinally extending bearer beams 7 as preferred but it is usual to provide such beams with the present system, since a considerable space is left between the rails 5 and below the below the ties 6 is graded and shaped to form a longitudinally extending drain and the surfaces of said drain as indicated at 8 in the drawing. The said drain is depressed 'at the central portion thereofso as to tend to collect the water as The ties 6 may are generally. pa ed or covered with cement or concrete tiest-for the purposes of drainage. The space between the said bearer beams 7 and in a gutter, the said drain is graded so that the Water may be conducted to suitable points where outlet drains 9 are provided.

I The sa d out et drains may be arranged at as frequent intervals as found ordinarily such drains, say in the middle of a city block, and the drain from ea'ch cross street as from the positions indicated by the dotted lines 10-43 and 11ll in Fig. 4 are graded necessary, but

downwardl grades ext nding' toward each other from opposite ends. of the block will meet at an outlet drain- 9. The drain surface beneath the ties preferably extends from the beams 7 on one side to the beams '7 on the other side so that a moisture collecting surface of ample width is provided below the entire track system. Thewater collected and running into the space below the rails 5 can thus be carried off in any suitable drain or sewer system.

I contemplate employing one of in opposite directions, and the The conductor for the system may be of any suitable form but is preferably composed of T rails 12 which are mounted below the surface of the street or roadway and preferably between the rails 5. The said conductor rails 12 are usually supported on insulated bearing plates 13 which are mounted upon the ties 6' and the -preferable location. thereof with respect to the rails is clearly shown in Fig. 2.' The con next to one-of the rails 5, the said trolley pole having its lower end bent or turned to one side, so as to extend laterally over the conductor rails 12. The said trolley maybe provided with i any conductor engaging means as for instance the contact or friction roller 17 as shown in Figs. 2, and 3. The roller is usually made of considerable width so as to be wider than the tread of the conductor rails 12.

The central portion of the roadbed is arranged with a street or road surface 18 which extends almost the entire width of the space between the tread portions of the rails 5. A space is left upon one side to form the slot 16 and a slight space as at- 19 is also preferably left at the outer side, to

accommodate the flanges of the car wheels. The central surface 18 between the car'rails is supported at suitable intervals by standards 20 which may be formed of metal and the surface 18 may be secured thereto in any desired manner. standards and beneath one side of the'roadbed is preferably filled with concrete, asphalt or other substance, the upper portion there of being carried over nearly'to the slot 16 so that a firm support is offered to the street surface between the car rails. The said. ma-

terial also forms one side-of the conduit for the conductor. The slot 16 in addition to forming an entrance for the trolleys of the cars also affords a drainage space for admitting the water from the surface and into the conduit. The ties having the spaces between them unfilled around theconductor and in the conduit insure the-passage of all the water into the .drain below the same without coming in contact with said conductor. The trolley may be of any desired type but a simple form is shownjin Fig. 3 in which the pole. 14 extends into a casing 21 attached to the framing of themotor 15, and having a telescopic movement therein. The upper end of the said trolley pole let is usually pro- The space beneath the advantage to employ a rail in which the trolley can press upon the upper surface thereof for the reason that switches in the conductor rails are not required and the conductor rails may be brought together at the switches as indicated at 24 in Fig. 5, it not being necessary to leave any space between the same. The trolley bearing upon the upper edges of the said conductor rails, pass readily from the main rail to the switch rails without an interruption of the contact. The trolley will of course be carried with the truck of the ear which is guided upon the track by any usual or ordinary switch mechanism as shown at 25. The mounting of the conductor rails upon the insulating plates 13 insures a thorough insulation of the same throughout from the ties and adjacent parts of the system and the return current through the motor is accommodated by the rails 5 of the track.

It will be observed that it is practically impossible to have the rails short circuited by rain or water entering the slots along the track, since the water must immediately fall to the drain along beneath thetics 6. A very large quantity of water can thus be cared for and drained from the tracks without any danger of short circuiting or interference with the operation of the road.

The construction of a roadbed in accordance with this system need not be expensive and yet can be made very effective for the purpose of an underground electric trolley system and is thus admirably adapted for use in cities and towns.

What I claim is:

An underground trolley system, comprising a road bed made up of longitudinally extending bearer beams, transversely arranged tics supported by said beams, the ends of said ties extending beyond the outer faces of said beams, rails supported upon said ties directly over said beams and adapted to reach to the surface of the roadway, insulated bearing plates secured to said ties and located a suitable distance from said rails, a conductor mounted upon said plates and extending parallel with said rails, sur

face supporting standards mounted upon said ties, a street surface section carried by said standards and adapted to overhang said conductor, said street surface section extending to the rail at one side of the track and In witness that I Claim the foregoing I forming a slot at the other side thereof, and have hereunto subscribed my name this 10th a conduit formed between said bearerbeams day of May, 1911.

I" having a depressed central portion, said con- ADOLPH KAUTZK Y.

5' duit being inclined toward suitable outlet Witnesses:

drains .Whereby water entering the conduit EQJSTADLMAN.

may. be carried away from saidconductoi'. En gma R. PQLLARD. 

